In settlement, UK government’s Home Office to pay £5,750 to EU citizen for 10-hour detention

In a settlement, the Home Office of the UK government has agreed to pay £5,750 to an EU citizen it had detained at the border during a post-Brexit crackdown on Europeans, who entered the country last year.

The citizen, Miro Matos, is a Slovakian national. He has lived in the UK for 18 years.

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At his treatment in Calais, 42-year-old Matos was so furious that he sued the department when the officials detained him for 10 hours, alleging that he was using a false name and had not declared a driving offence when he had applied for EU settled status.

“I thought: ‘Have they lost their minds?’ I didn’t come in on a floating door. I drive in a car. I understand when there is human error but every single thing, they said about me was rubbish. I have travelled the world, but this is the rudest approach I have ever experienced,” Matos, who is the general manager at a restaurant in Chancery Lane in London, said.

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After his complaint, the correspondence from the Home Office acknowledged “that detention was unwarranted in light of your status to reside in the UK. Your status should have been known to the persons on staff at the time of your detention.”

It agreed that “compensation” was “appropriate”. Initially, it made an offer of £2,000, but in the last week, it agreed to a settlement of £5,750.

(With inputs from agencies)